I See Fire
by Xovella
Summary: Walkers are not the only things to be afraid of in these woods. When a pre-zombie world killer comes across a lone survivor in the woods of Tennessee, will she put aside her bloodlust to make an effort to survive as a team? This is an OC story for right now, but they will eventually meet the main group, not to worry! **Please review!**
1. Chapter 1

**This is an OC story for right now, but they will eventually meet the main group, not to worry! **

**So far, I DO own the rights to the characters! Just… not the zombies… or yes the zombies? Who owns zombies?**

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Somewhere else entirely…

She wanted to kill him. She wanted it so bad she was trembling, not out of anger; she was excited. This wasn't the "_I was so mad I could have killed him"_ urge. No. She didn't even know this man. This was a deep desire to hurt. She didn't just want him dead, oh no. It was the process she wanted. If he was alive after she finished having her fun, she wouldn't mind, but with what she wanted to do, there was no chance. It would surprise her if he lived through half.

She was insane, she had to be. She was sure that normal people didn't want to inflict mass amounts of pain on a complete stranger for their own enjoyment. But in a zombie-infested apocalyptic wasteland polluted with survivors as bat-shit crazy as her, what was normal anyway? Pre-plague, that question had a teen angst feel of diversity and acceptance; it had such a different connotation now. Opportunities were getting scarcer.

No, even in today's standards, she was fucked up. But this was nothing new to her. She didn't go as far as cannibalism, like some people had. She lost interest as soon as the light faded from their eyes. It was the hunt, the blood, the _process_. She was sick, she knew this, but she could be worse. The people she killed were not usually _good_ people. Hardly anyone was good these days. Mothers who had sacrificed their children for minutes more of precious life. There were men who tried to force themselves inside of her just before she forced her knife inside of them. No one would miss these people. Yet, sometimes, when the thirst was too great, like now, anyone who crossed her path was fair game.

As evil as she was, no child had ever fallen under her knife. There was something in a child's eyes in that moment of absolute terror, usually in her most gratifying moment, that made her stomach ache and her appendix burst. Besides, they didn't have enough blood. She got close once, close enough to know that she hated it. They weren't even able to put up a substantial fight. Although, some full grown men that she'd hunted were less of a struggle. They blundered through the woods, leaving trails infants could follow. When she showed herself, they would just roll over and give themselves over. The blood was so much less satisfying when it wasn't earned.

She was hoping that this man might prove an adventure. As she examined him from atop her tree, she smiled to herself and felt the giddiness rise into her throat. She had picked her prey well, maybe the best yet. And to think it had been sheer luck! He was quite the man; late 20s, well-proportioned body, both agile and strong. She knew if she rushed him, he would overpower her in a second if he had any survival instincts at all.

As she watched him move around his small fire, she knew this would be no easy task. He was both smart and cautious, that much was evident. His campsite was well chosen with lots of foliage to hide the light of the fire. He kept his huge club out of the way, but accessible. He leaned over the small pot on the fire, she glimpsed his face for the first time. The cover of darkness allowed her to be much closer to him than she had been all day. He was attractive; he had a strong jawline and his eyes were hard, merciless and dangerous. There was something about him that drew her attention. She would have loved to study him a bit more, but the hunger was at its peak. It would be difficult, but her body ached in anticipation of the challenge. There was no time, it had to be tonight.

He hadn't let up his guard once in the past 18 hours she had watched him. She saw no opening. She put her head in her hand and pouted like a child. How was she supposed to incapacitate him so that she could have her fun? He was more imposing, and he was almost too tall. Her only chance was to catch him off guard. Sure, she was petite, but she wasn't _that_ small and he appeared almost a foot taller.

She heard a rustle behind her. Leave it to a squirrel to ruin her position. It was getting louder; she had better move if she wanted to stay hidden. It was coming faster now, it had smelled something it liked. There was a howl, and she groaned, knowing that it was no animal. The bushes all around the man's campsite began trembling and then they burst out, surrounding the man in a circle of undead flesh. _Fuck that._ If they killed him, she would have no one to play with.

* * *

All day he was uneasy. Not just like someone was watching him, but like he was under assessment. He bent over his pot of beans and stirred the last of his food with bits of the rabbit he snared. His head snapped up when the rustle came. The movement he saw did not correspond with the sound. It was slight and fluid, like a wisp of coffee steam. God, he missed coffee. He gaged the distance between himself and the mace. He had just picked it up at the house of a private collector, isolated and alone in these woods. He hadn't even know about the plague; he didn't have a TV, radio, or a phone.

As he moved for the weapon, the howl came. Not a real howl, but there was no other way to describe primal blood lust made into sound as it gurgles on its own esophagus. The bushes all around him lit up as they burst through. He swung the mace up and lunged at the first rotting carcass, sticking the spikes halfway through its already half missing face. He swung around, taking a zombie behind the knee as he flipped him and buried the spikes in his skull.

When he sprung at his next target, he saw a small figure drop from the branches into the fray. He moved towards the child without thinking, to protect it, but soon found it protecting him. As he unstuck the mace out of the last creature's eye, he saw the kid toying with its last contestant. As he watched, he pulled out a blood dried towel and wiped the infected blood from the mace. The child finally got tired of playing with the beast after he severed its legs. It was crawling towards him, dragging its intestines in the dirt after it. The kid pulled out the knife in his waistband and buried it up to the hilt in its eye socket.

The small figure straightened up and turned to him, but the eyes under the hood were not those of a child. They were fierce and black, almost resembling those of a great white. Those eyes looked at him the same as would a ravenous shark. As soon as he saw it, the ferocious light dimmed from the girl's eyes as she composed herself. She pulled the surgical mask from her dark narrow face as she approached him. He pushed his own blood splattered bandana around his neck and looked down over a foot at her. She looked up at him without a word and held out a hand for the bloody towel, then began wiping her blades of the black toxic blood.

As she cleaned, he removed his bulky goggles and studied the slender framed girl. She let down her hood and stared at him. She couldn't be much younger than him, but by the way her hands moved, she was much older in the business of killing. Her raven hair was long, tangled and half dreadlocked, already streaked with gray and peppered with stress. She had a thin, defined scar cutting through her eyebrow, trailing up into her hairline, which was shaved on that side. Her clothes were dark and formfitting. She looked like she stepped straight out of a movie, except that she was tiny. He was well over 6 feet, but damn, she was more than a foot below that. Her eyes locked on his as he examined her, those large, dark, terrifying eyes. A slight smile drew upon the corner of her mouth and sent a shiver down his spine. It wasn't the kind of smile he usually got from pretty girls.

* * *

He was much cuter when he was killing things, she almost let him kill them all. It was a shame that she had to give up her position, but he wouldn't have made it out of that attack alone. As she finished with her blades she handed the soiled towel back to her prey as she stood. Fuck. She had misjudged his height. He was way too tall and far too broad. There was no way that she could handle this man. She knew her limits, and this specimen far exceeded them.

"I'm Leah." That was weird, she didn't mean to say that. She meant to say something like, _I want to leave you, stalk you until you break an ankle, so that I can torture, kill you and bathe in your blood._

"Kame. Want some food?" She nodded. _Shit!_ She didn't want any beans, why did she nod? She should have let the undead injure him a bit before she stepped in. He stepped towards her and she thought he was going to attack her for a moment when he glowered down at her. As he passed he let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She turned to see if she could push him into the fire, but he was already squatting on the other side and way eying her through the flames. She slid her pack to the ground as she crouched, huddled against the wind across from him.

"How long have you been following me?"

"Long enough." She said surveying his supplies. His pack was almost empty, this must be the last of his food. Good, if you have no food you will get weaker and easier to kill. Perfect.

As if he could read her thoughts, his head snapped up. "Why were you following me?"

"To see if I could trust you." Her words were not entirely a lie, which she was proud of.

He looked at her expectantly, "And?" He asked. He unzipped his waterproof shell, and laid over a nearby branch. She was now very thankful the undead had attacked when they did. He was in better shape than she had expected.

"And… you're a big guy." She said, appraising him with a sinful grin. His long-sleeved undershirt was loose and worn, his muscles underneath seemed to be trying to escape their thin fabric cage. "A girl has to be careful around a big man." She murmured, her black eyes shining their malicious light on his skin.

"You think you can trust me?" He said raising an eyebrow sardonically.

"I don't know. Can I?"

"I don't think so."

She smiled broad, "And what about me?"

He smirked, "I think you are about as deadly as they come." Her smile widened and he admired a row of straight white teeth. "You _are_ pretty, though. Probably why you're still alive." People get distracted by pretty girls, even women. No one expects a sociopath in a sweet little package.

She laughed, "Yeah, I don't have a lot of competition nowadays." She motioned to the body next to her.

He glanced at it and shrugged, "A bit of makeup and a pretty dress can do wonders for a corpse." She laughed and he smiled. She really was lovely. Dainty and trim, but her eyes held the bloodlust. It was the same look in his brother's eyes when they were children, right before he slaughtered the family dogs like pigs. After that they locked him away; he was pretty sure Cas died there years ago.

* * *

As he passed the pot of beans and rabbit, she found that her tiny breakfast didn't hold her off as long as she had hoped. As she ate, she wondered if she could kill him in his sleep. Maybe she could slit that beautifully sculpted throat. She had been so excited all day with the kill to come, but now she felt as disappointed as a little girl with no Christmas presents. He wasn't right. It was unfair. Just a few inches shorter and scrawnier, she could make it work, but she might as well give up on him now. A small part of her felt guilty about killing someone so magnificently constructed. _That_ was new. She pouted and stared across the flames.

She considered him as she played with the long scar that cut across her face into her short hair. He looked like he was born of this forest. He was entirely composed of earth tones. His eyes were a dull green that perfectly matched the foliage around them. He reminded her of a big, unconquerable tree, strong and resolute. A tree she couldn't cut down.

He already knew she was following her for some dubious reason, she was sure. That alone shed enough light on her intentions to protect him from all harm on her end. His eyes were wary, watching her movements. He knew, but how? The way he looked at her, he almost anticipated her thoughts and desires. He looked like he was weighing whether the risk of having her in camp was worth the comfort of human companionship.

She could never get him now. Now that he knew she was here and knew what she was. She would leave in the night, in search of another. She couldn't stay here any longer. The desire had to be dealt with.

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**As I was writing this Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation came on my Pandora. So fitting. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I assure you it is real this time! I had so many problems with this chapter. First it wouldn't save, then it wouldn't upload and then it magically got deleted all together! I had to rewrite it from scratch. So sorry about all the confusion! :) Reviews make me happy!**

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She waded in the river, a few nights and a dozen miles from the man. Each step led her deeper and more blood washed from her body. She was covered from head to toe. She never bothered with face protection with the uninfected, anything they could give her would kill her after she was long dead. The murky water swirled around her by the time she was fully submerged. This was her drug. She always wanted more. At first she wanted to experience the mysteries of herself, to become familiar with her desires. Soon the wanting became needing, which quickly turned into craving.

She had appeased her demons. For now. She floated in the inlet, bobbing up and down in the gentle current as her hair fanned out around half of her, like a waning moon in the dark water. She enjoyed the cold rushing over her body, it made her skin feel hard and taut, like she was made of steel. She thought back to the big man. She hadn't seen him in over a week. She could go to him now without risking her own death. She knew he wouldn't strike first, and she had gone over a month without killing until today. That was the longest she had gone since she was in her teens. She would find him; he was the only person to survive a conversation with her in years. Even before the walkers inherited the earth.

She climbed out of the frigid river, slow and deliberate. She kneeled by the tree where her gear was hanging and reassembled her pack. She rung her hair out and wiped the shaved bits clean. She stared blankly at the gentle rapids. She sat there until the sun had dried her and the flies were buzzing around a nearby corpse.

Now that she was free, she couldn't look at the body in the thicket. Who travels alone in this wilderness anyway? Not somebody who wants to live. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't help it. She clenched her eyes tight when she passed, the smell hitting her. She would never be rid of the sickness in her body, but she could cleanse her sanity. She walked away from the stink of the kill, washed clean of the disease in her heart.

* * *

He had been alone for days, and he even missed the company of walkers. He wasn't used to any company, but after Leah vanished in the middle of the night, it was different. He couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to find her. Of course, in the morning he purposely travelled in the opposite direction of her tracks. As intriguing as she was, Cas was more than enough murderous intentions for one life-time. He didn't want to follow the shark when it caught the scent of blood.

Just before dusk he found a location to set up camp. There was a large boulder with an overhang, dense undergrowth on all sides except a small opening directing in across the tiny clearing. He was putting together a small fire when a shadow fell from an overhanging tree. She straightened herself resting her hands on her hips, and waited for him to notice her. He spun around instantly, but this time she wasn't disappointed at his attentiveness.

He was astonished at the change in her eyes. They were no longer black and hungry, but rather warm and lucid. She threw back her head and let out a musical laughed. He blinked at her, caught off guard. He didn't know how to respond to her. It was so unlike her previous demeanor. Thirty minutes with her a week ago was enough to convince him of her complete madness. She was almost more dangerous like this. You couldn't tell. Her laugh was sweet and sincere as it escaped her smiling lips. It was almost as if she believed in her sanity herself. If this had been their first meeting he would have fallen for her charade like a fool in love.

* * *

She caught his look of surprise as she laughed. Was her insanity palpable? He caught himself and straightened his body towards her. It was like she was seeing him for the first time with open eyes. He was so much more than the blood that had eluded her. He was dark and ominous. His green eyes were threatening and hard, but not without kindness. She had seen what her ravenous mind wanted, but she had missed so much.

She never wondered why he travelled alone until now. It never occurred to her that it was odd, she had simply felt lucky when she crossed his trail. Now looking at him, bedraggled, low on supplies and alone, she realized that he could not have started out this way. He lost people. He was the only one left, and he had earned it.

"Back for more food?" he offered, though it hardly looked like he was in any position to be sharing. She reached above her head and wrenched her backpack from its hiding place in the tree. She pulled out a few supplies and tossed some packaged meat at him. He eyed her.

"Yeah. I snagged it off a guy choking on his own bile." She said, rolling her eyes, failing to mention that she had induced his condition. He inspected the food briefly before he set the meat down next to the unlit fire.

"You going to run off in the middle of the night again?" he asked. His eyes tried to show indifference, but she saw a glint of concern.

She waved him off, "I had some things to take care of, but I should be good for a while." She said with a careless smile. "I was thinking about sticking around for a bit this time!"

She smiled as he approached her, but his expression made her apprehensive. He eyed her warily, and she smiled uneasily under his scrutinizing gaze. He was quite close to her now, and she had to crane her neck to see his face in the dimming light. His scraggly hair was casting a shadow across his face that made even her nervous. She began to wonder if finding him was a good idea after all.

* * *

He was actually immensely glad to see her, but was absolutely determined not to let it show. Just to know that she was alright was a rushing sense of relief. It had worried him when she took off into the woods in the dead of night. Looming over her, he was inspecting her condition and not even really thinking about whether to let her stay or not. She looked so different, so much happier and well fed. He had already decided to let her stay as soon as he saw her.

He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it away from his face and bringing a band round it. He continued to stare at her as the day turned into twilight. She was radiating. She was crackling with spirit and electricity, it made her glow. He saw fire. The orange light of the sky cascaded on her skin and made her shine. She was on fire. She could set this whole forest ablaze. She would desolate this rotting earth and the corpses who walked upon it. The living, the dead, at least it would be over. This woman, if her copper skin could spark, would end it all.

* * *

He turned his back on her. Was it trust? Or just confidence that he could take her down if she attacked him. He was bent over the unlit fire, shielding it from the wind with is body. She suddenly felt out of place. She had never travelled with someone else, and was drawing a blank when she tried to remember protocols for companionship. She thought about those groups of 2 or 3 that she had watched from afar. She had had other things on her mind as her main driving force in those occasions. As he worked to start the fire, she figured she would prep the meat for the skillet.

As she knelt for her knife she glanced at his own pack. It was decorated by what looked like seashells, perfectly ornate and dainty. She leaned closer and her eyes widened in her head. Teeth, dozens of them, hung from a rope on his pack. There were all sizes and shapes. Some were molars and some were incisors. Some could not be human, while others seemed to be children's. They were all cleaned and polished. Some had delicate designs fashioned on their surfaces.

She looked at him and caught his gaze already on her, coaxing the flames into new life. He raised his eyes to meet hers, unwavering and unblinking as he looked into them. She saw the truth. She saw the killer in him too. But not like her. He wasn't like her. She moved back towards the flamed, the night chill had already set in her diseased bones.

"You don't keep trophies of yours?" He asked.

She paused, considering, "In my own way." She collected something that only she could see. She collected their life force, their energy. You couldn't exactly bottle that and carry it around. Congealed blood was no good; you can't take the life force from the dead. She looked at him through the roasting meat and smoke.

"How do you thread them?" She asked. He dug in his pocket and retrieved a pocket knife. He flashed it at her and returned it to his pants.

She tilted her head back and looked at the stars. It had been a long time since she had felt like this. She was a completely new person after the kill. It was like she had come up for air in her ocean of insanity. How long until the waves pulled her under again? A week. Maybe two. It was never long. Most of her time was spent hungry. She wanted to swallow up this whole land- the dirt, the death- and have it there inside her. Like a fire in the belly of a dragon, to be warm and satiated forever.

The silence built up around them. Kame was far from trustworthy and he certainly didn't trust her, but it was a comfortable mistrust. She had never allowed herself to be alone with anyone she wanted to live. She was confident that neither of them was entirely safe with each other, but she could also guarantee that any trespassers into the camp would meet a swift end. She let her eyes close and her body relax in the warmth of the fire.

* * *

He was watching her when she closed her eyes. She was such a delicate little thing, but she didn't even bat an eyelash upon seeing the teeth. She was way too understanding about the whole thing. She asked none of the right questions. She was at a calm in her mental storm, but it would return. The clearness of her eyes couldn't last. The fire in her skin would simmer and burn out, and she would be drowning again.

He was no better. He didn't crave it. He didn't need it. But he enjoyed it. In the world before he had killed many. After all these years of killing, he didn't know why he never looked at the dead before. He was nothing more than a government sanctioned killer. But he couldn't remember any of the faces. Mountains of bodies haunted his subconscious, but never any faces.

They ate in silence around the tiny fire, barely big enough to keep them warm. He noticed her eyes on him and he couldn't help but squirm under her piercing gaze.

Then she smelled it. Her favorite smell. Instead of the excitement it usually induced, her heart dropped into her stomach. Blood in the breeze. She lifted her head to trace the scent, and she saw that he smelled it too. His eyes widened and she saw the concerned buried inside them. If they smelled it, the walkers smelled it, if they hadn't caused it.

He quickly stomped out the fire and loaded his pack with everything that had been scattered. Between the two of them, it was barely half a minute until they had the place packed and were loping through the forest.

They followed a thin game trail to the ridge above, to get a better vantage point. She quickly tightened her pack scaled a thick tree. He had seen her drop from a tree twice, but was astonished to see her climbing it like she was born to it. She was perched 20 feet up within seconds. It wasn't quite dark yet, she could still make out their surroundings. She looked out among the tops of the trees across the Appalachians. The breeze caught in her throat as she sucked the air through her teeth. Then she saw them.

A spark ran up her spine, making it rigid, fueling her strength. She froze where she balanced on the branch and set her teeth. She could feel the steel in her veins, pulsing through her heart. Fire in her shoulders, ice in her heart. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. This was a feeling. One that she lived for. Exhilarating. Life-changing.

"Hey Angel Eyes." She called from the branches. "If we circle around to the south of the ridge, we can follow the river down to the valley." That was the way she came. She didn't like risking exposing the bodies she had left behind, but it was the only way out.

"We?"

"I told you. I'm hanging around for a bit." She shot him a playful smile as she hung from a low branch. She dropped to the ground with delicate grace. "But we have to hurry. There are about fifty head in this herd that I can see." She grabbed his sleeve as she led the way down the far side of the ridge.


End file.
